Thomas Jason James Smith, of Millvale, had previously filed a federal lawsuit over the incident. The Millvale Police Department recently paid a settlement to Smith's family.

A leaked video made by another Millvale employee showed Murphy using a stun gun on a shirtless Smith while he was handcuffed in the police station. Smith had been arrested for public drunkenness.

"And there's times when police officers are confronted with very aggressive, violent criminals who need to be dealt with with force that's appropriate for the circumstances," said the victim's attorney, David J. Shrager.

Reporter: "And in this case?"

Shrager: "I believe the force was excessive, from what I saw in the video, and apparently the grand jury agreed."

"According to the indictment, on Sept. 21, 2012, Nicole Murphy, while acting under color of law as a police officer with the Millvale Police Department, deprived an individual identified as T.S. of the constitutional right to be free from unreasonable seizure, by deploying a Taser in both drive and probe-stun modes on T.S.'s person while he was handcuffed," said a written statement from the Justice Department.

If found guilty at trial, Murphy faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine under federal sentencing guidelines.

Millvale Police Chief Derek Miller and Murphy did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

“Credit has to be given to the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the F.B.I.,” said Shrager. “They did an extremely thorough and lengthy investigation and put a lot of resources into protecting the civil rights of the citizens of this commonwealth.”